[bekajoi]

We were at the gingerbread party cleaning up... Aaron tried to climb onto a tall stool and slipped. His chin/lower lip hit the seat of the stool. Hard.

Blood on the inside and outside. His teeth went through, all the way through, about 1/4" long, straight cut. After I got the initial bleeding to stop (gentle pressure), he wanted down and was walking around talking to people. My friend's mom is a nurse (he called her to ask) and she said the only reason to worry about stitches was the asthetic thing, as it is a facial wound. (scar solution cream will fade any scar, so that's not my concern~ I'm worried about infection)

It is holding closed on its own, is barely long enough for 1-2 stitches (per side I guess)~ we decided it was not worth the extra trauma to take him in and have them stab him in the face with needles 3-6 hours past bedtime. We're researching oral piercing treatments to prevent infection....

Poor guy.

Just wanted into a stool, and ends up with a cut open mouth. P&PT that it heals quickly and smoothly! (and if it looks bad in the morning we'll take him in... but I think the window of opportunity will have passed by then. 6-8 hours to get stitches done, right?)

I think it is a blessing in disguise that it happened just before he is going to sleep. It will have a chance to heal, when it needs to be left alone the most, while he sleeps. He can't tongue it open in his sleep, etc. It will have a chance to do its best healing right now. May he sleep well tonight! (he won't even let us give him oral meds, but he ate a small piece of candy off my gingerbread house, so he's not in too much pain to eat, at least)

Anyway. Rambling. Poor guy.

 

[Keelin]

Aww, I'm sorry. I hope he heals fast and feels better soon!

Give him a hug for me!

 

[soilman]

"scar solution cream will fade any scar"

Scar solution cream does not seem to be proven to have any effect in fading scars. They are probably useless. Scars fade with time. Anecdotal reports of scar creams fading scars are generally the result of time alone doing the fading. There do not seem to be any double-blind studies with the same injury on 2 sides of the same person, with one side treated with fade-cream, and the other with a placebo, and neither the person nor the statistician knowing which side had which (until after the evaluations were made).

The only proven way to prevent a scar is to have a highly skilled doctor do a good job of matching up the sides of the cut and securing them together with sutures or other fasteners. It is best to do this within 3 hours of the injury, rather than have more extensive work done later by a cosmetic surgeon who would have to do cutting as well as stitching. A doctor who is good at this will put in one or more layers of sutures subcutaneously and use tape closures or skin-adhesive on the outside layer that don't leave "railroad track" marks. You get a hairline scar that fades with time.

If his upper teeth went all the way thru his lower lip he will probably have less of a scar if it is sutured up by a properly skilled doctor. Not all emergency room doctors are awfully good at this. Some are. I would go to an urgent care private practice, where you know they have highly skilled doctors.

 

[delicious]

I know that hospitals have special tape that acts like stitches, but doesn't hurt and lessens the chance of a scar.

Also, I know a young boy who's parents waited until morning and were told by the doc that since they'd waited, he'd have to re-open the wound, as it had partially healed. The parents opted to leave it as it was.

 

[karenlovessnow]

Poor little guy. Hope it all turns out alright!

 

[Amy SF]

Awww poor Aaron.

My nephew (who is now 22) was running on the brick patio in his backyard at his third birthday party, fell and cut his lip pretty badly on the bricks. I remember his screaming and yelling - I'm pretty sure they could hear him two blocks over. I remember the feeling of helplessness standing there watching as my sister held him and tried to stop the blood. She had to take him to the doctor and get his lip stitched up. Two weeks later I asked how he was doing, and my sister said he pulled the stitches out on his own b/c it had all healed up. I know he was a year older than Aaron is now, but kids are pretty tough and resilient, so I'm sure he'll be okay pretty soon.

 

[IdealisticGirl]

It's probably well past the window of opportunity for stitches in this case, but there is a stitch-free solution called Dermabond. It's something like a superglue for the skin. Just something to remember for future injuries.

 

[bekajoi]

Thanks guys! He woke up in the middle of the night, very upset~ Daddy brought him to me and he fell asleep on me, so we figured he just needed to sleep near mommy for the night. he actually asked to nurse (I didn't think he would, from its location, I'll get a pic of it once I clean it off this morning) and fell asleep nursing. At least he had that comfort.

This morning he is acting like his old self, pointing vaguely to his chin and asking Anna if she saw his owie. The swelling (from the fat lip effect) has gone down most of the way, and it looks like a smooth scab.

I'm going to go pick up some Arnica and Calendula homoepathic remedies... Arnica is for trauma,bruising, pain....Calendula is for cuts and open wounds. (reccommended by several people, I have needed to get them for a while now)

On the scar cream front, it does work, at least this brand does, and makes a big difference. The stuff we got was more for the money, but basically the same thing as Mederma. There is regular Mederma. Kid's Mederma. And what we got was a different brand, called "Scar Zone". There was more in the tube than the Mederma, it has sunscreen in it to keep the sun from tattooing the scar, and it was cheaper. It worked WONDERS on my daughter's nose injury.

(she fell into a windowsill with her face and split open the skin on her nose~ it was amazing that it wasn't broken, and if she had turned her head to the side when falling, she would have lost an eye!! it could have been much worse. 2 pics of her, just after stitches, and a pic showing how the scar looks recently:

http://annabearbabyware.com/images/kids/annanose.jpg

http://annabearbabyware.com/images/kids/annanose2.jpg

http://annabearbabyware.com/images/kids/annanose3.jpg

It was dark pink and bumpy, and now is pale pink and smooth. And we had a specialist close up her wound. Oh, and it was his lower teeth going through the skin under his lip, not the upper ones. He fell into the stool with his chin and it pressed his skin into his lower teeth. So the exterior wound is the least of my concerns.

In any case, it seems to be doing pretty well already. I think we made the right choice, as it WILL heal nicely on its own. I'm betting that it would *look* worse with the stitch scars added in, not better~

Anyway! I'll get pics of it and post them later today. Need to get everyone going for the day.

 

[bekajoi]

Pics from just a few minutes ago, after cleaning off the dry blood not attached to the scab, etc.

his face this morning...

close up of the mouth...

tried to get an interal pic but camera angles are all wrong without flipping it out and I don't want to do that... but it is still a little puffy~

But he still seems like his old self~

Silly boy!

 

[karenlovessnow]

Beautiful kids, with or without the injuries!

 

[Amy SF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karenlovessnow

Beautiful kids, with or without the injuries!

I second that!

 

[isowish]

poor little guy. He doesn't look too upset in the pics though. I hope he feels better soon!

 

[berrykat]

 

[bekajoi]

Thanks guys! He's a mini of daddy and Anna's a mini of me~ kinda scary when you see our photos as small kids and how close these 2 resemble the old pictures!

He does seem to be doing better today. Haven't had a chance to look for the Arnica or Calendula tablets yet. (tablets work best for open wounds, by the way~ the topical stuff will sting, or, rather, BURN. Really hurts, so those 2 should only be used, in topical form, on surface bruising) Hope to get to the store for those later today.

 

[rabid_child]

Ow! Poor Aaron! He is awfully cute though!

I have a suggestion that has worked well for my deep cuts on different parts of my body. Buy a box of Band Aid Active Flex bandages (the finger sized ones might work best.. they make long ones that will wrap around a finger that you can cut a piece off of). They stay on for DAYS (through bathing, etc...) and completely cover the cut. They have some special gel stuff that reduces healing time and scarring. It keeps the cut clean and with the right amount of moisture for healing.

The two accidental knife cuts I had on my hands healed really fast, the bandages stayed on for several days at a time, and there is barely any scarring. One of the cuts bled for 6 hrs! And it takes a long time for me to figure out which finger it was now. Just don't put antibiotic ointment on with the bandaid (which it says in the instructions) because it messes up the seal.

Oh yea, and it doesn't hurt at all when you take them off. They just peel.